Engine-control means



Jan. 7, 1930. R, f NAFZIGER 1,742,719

ENGINE CONTROL MEANS Filed Aug. 16, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l fade/Z6?? A, @www R. L. NAFZIGER 1,742,719

Jan. 7, 1930.

ENGINE CONTROL MEANS Filed Aug. 16, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,13 jlllllllhllh I qb Patented Jan. 7, 41930 UNITED ASTATES PATENT ori-'Ica RIALPH L. NAFZIGEB, F CITY, MISSOURI ENGINE-CONTROL MEANS Application led August 18, 1928. Serial No. 300,043.

These improvements relate to means for controlling the operation of internal combustion engines, with special reference to their automatic control while idling.

It is the habit of drivers of automobile trucks, and sometimes of passenger cars, to leave the vehicle standing with the engine idlin while they make deliveries or attend to other business, thus wasting fuel and llm ing the air with noise and noxious fumes from the exhaust.

The general or broad object of the invention is to overcome objections arising from the unnecessary idling of engines.V This is accpmplished through the provision of means which automatically cause the engine to stop within a short time after the gear-shift lever has been moved to neutral position.

lAn important and more specilic object ofthe invention is to accomplish this result by means independent of the engine and without involving the operation of the engine for causing the engine to stop, thus effecting simplicity, avoiding mechanical diiiiculties and other objections, rendering the advantages more generally applicable,saving cost, etc. In the present embodiment this is accomplished through means for automatically discontinuing, the spark at the spark plugs of the engine on moving the gear-shift lever into neutral position. The means are electrically controlled.

. Another important object is to provide a system or device for the purpose which may be embodied as a small, compact unit which may be positioned behind the dash board of the vehicle or at some other convenient place. This makes for great convenience in application to cars already in service, and has various other advantages. It is an object to provide a device for the purpose` according to which a predetermined amount of time will elapse between the time when the gear-shift lever is moved to neutral position and the time when the engine stops, thus providing for the normal operation of the engine during short waits, asiat street crossings, without moving another key. A An object is to provide a system or device 50 according to which the automatic stop fea- YYto the view of stated otherwise,

are simplicity,

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a largely dia-l the engine may grammatic view of the several elements const ituting an embodiment" of the invention; Fig. 2 1s a fragmentary view at right angles Fig: 1; Fig. 3 shows the parts as in Fig. 2 with the plunger raised; Fig. 4

is a fragmentary top view of parts shown in the other figures; Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of the parts at the end of the plunger; Fig. 6 shows a modied form; and Fig. 7, is a largely diagrammatic view following Fig. 1 in general and showing what I shall call herein the preferred form. l

The system or device includes a magnet which vis pref bly in the form of a solenoid as 1() haviri a movable core or lunger 11 and the adjustable iron stop 12 imiting the inward movement of the plunger. The plunger 11 carries a metallic ring 13 andanother metallic ring or band 14, these two ringsrbeing insulated from each other and mounted on the insulating piece 15v having the exposed and rounded'nose or Vend 15% Thel plunger 11 has an axial extension 11a passing through the insulation piece 15 and the part 15 may be moulded with the rings in place and also directly upon the stem 11a. The ring 13 is of a larger diameter than the ring 14 and the latter is flush with the end part 15. The insulating shoulder at 15b prevents short circuiting between parts 13 and 16-17.

A pai-r of contact members 16 and 17, of sheet spring metal, shown in top view in Fig. 4, are secured to apiece of insulation 18. These contact members incline toward each other in the direction of their end portions 16* and 17 respectively where they are somewhat rounded as shown. As shown in Fig. 3 when the plunger 11 is retracted the insulating end n rests upon these free ends 16 and 17a of the contact members. lVhen the plunger 11 has descended, as in Figs. 1 and 2, the metallic cylinder 14 is between the ends 16n ,and 17 and the insulating iange 15b rests on top of these contact members, limiting the further descent of the plunger. The downward movement of the plunger is gravity controlled.

Means for temporarily separating the contact members 16 and 17 are shown as a head 20 inthe form of a truncated cone of insulating material carried at the end of a push rod 21 having a coiled expansion spring 22 thereon between the push button 23 and the insulating piece 18. lVhen the push button 23 is moved inward the head 20 separates the contact members 16 and 17, allowing the head of the plunger to descend into the relative position shown by Fig. 2. On removing the tinger the spring 22 forces the finger piece outward, retracting the head 2O and causing electrical contact to be made between the ends 16a and 17 1 and the cylindrical head Carried by the solenoid 10 is a pair of spring contact members 25 and 26 formed respectively to contact the ring 13 when the plunger is lowered, and to be out of such contact when the plunger i's raised.

The element 27 (Fig. l) is a strip or bar of bi-metal, meaning two pieces of metal face to face and extending from end to end of the bar. I have marked the upper one 27a and the lower one 27". These two metalshave diilerent coeiicients of expansion, and when the bar 27 is heated it bends. Bi-metal suitable for the purpose is a commercial article, and is well known in such devices as thermostats. It is a thermostatic element in this connection. The bi-metal member is firmly secured at one end to a rigidsupport and has a contact 28 at its free end.

Around the bi-metal pie-ce 27, and insulated from it, is a coil of resistance wire 29 adapted to become heated when current passes through it. The wire of the coil 29 may be insulated wire or insulation may be put upon the bar 27 and the wire then wrapped, with the turns in spaced relation to each other upon the bar. A

The induction coil or spark-current device 30 has its secondary connected to the spark plug 31 by a conductor The conductor 39 leading to the primary of the coil in device 30 has an intcrrupter or timer T`while the secondary output conductor 32 has the distributor D.

The gear shift is shown at 33, Fig. 1, and in its central or neutral position, its other operative positions being shown by the four dotted circles a, b, c and d. The contact spring 34 makes contact with the gear-shift lever when in this neutral position, but such contact is not made when it is in any of its other positions. The conductor 35 leads from the spring contact element 34 to the heating coil 29. Since the bar 27 carrying the heating coil changes its shape the conductor 35 is provided with flexibility near the heating coil, a's by a few turns 35u in the wire 35.

The battery B is in communication with the contact member 16 through the conductor 38, while the induction coil 30 is in connection with the contact member 17 through conductor 39. It is evident that when the plunger has descended,'as in Fig. 1,a circuit is completed through the battery and the induction coil, the primary of which is grounded at 40, the battery being grounded at 41. The secondary of the induction coil is grounded at 42.

A conductor 43 leads from conductor 38 to the contact member 25 and a conductor 44 leads from contact member 26. For clearness of illustration the conductor 44 is shown as dividing at 44, one part 44b being in an electrical connection with the bi-metal piece 27, the other part 29" leading to the coil 29. The plunger-head ring 13 completes the connection between the battery and the two parts of the thermostatic device. Current may not flow through the conductor 43 however, until the gear shift-lever is moved into the neutral position, at which time current passes through the heating coil 38 and to ground at 45 at the gear-shift lever. The coil 29 heats up and communicates heat to Lthe thermostatic strip 27, which bends, as we will assume, upward, as shown by a single dotted line in Fig. 1. After a predetermined interval, say ten seconds or Whatever the time may be according to the construction or particular adjustment of the thermostat parts, thebar 27 bends sut'- ficiently to make contact at 46. Thereupon the current which is divided at 44n passes partly through the bar 27, contacts 28 and 46 and conductor 48 to the solenoid 10, passing therethrough and thence through the conductor 49 to ground.

As soon as current passes through the solenoid 1() the plunger 11 is drawn upward, or into the position shown by Fig. 3, and thereupon the respective circuits between the battery and the induction coil, between the battery and the solenoid, and between the battery and the gear-shift lever are broken. This results from the fact that the switch elements 13 and 14 have been drawn out of contact with their respective pairs of spring contact members.

lVhen the circuit through the heating coil is thus broken the bar 27 cools and a gap again occurs between the contacts 28 and 46. lVhen the operator desires to start the englne again he. simply pushes the button 23, allowinthe plunger to drop.

he switch 5() is bridged between the con- V'available for ,that purpose and because of the4 matic feature be in service at the time the switch` is closed and the gear shiftlever is in neutral position the thermostatic device will still operate to retract theplunger, after such space of time as maybe provided for by the winding on the` thermostat bar 27. This results from the Vinclusion of the thermostat in a circuit which, when rendered operative, draws current as soon as the gear shift lever is brought to neutral position. It may be desirable to close the switch 50 in starting, both in order to have more of the battery time element involved. There may be times on the road also, in trallic jams forexample, when it is desirable to close the switch 50. Ordinarily however, the switch 50 may be left open as long as the car is in use and in practice would preferably be omitted from the system.

At 53 and 54 I have shown 'taps into the heating coil at various places along its length. The connection 29 may be made at any of these various places and the operator may thus vary the time during' whic the engine will idle before being lbstopped.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a somewhat sim'- plified construction in which the magnet is eliminated. In this figure the current passes from battery through a conductor and divides at 61, part thereof passing through the coil 62 around the thermostat element 63 and passes thence through conductor 64 to the contact post 65 ofa double-pole switch S. When the switch is in the on or closed position, as shown, the current passes from post 65 to post 66 and thence through conductor 67 to the spring contact member 68 passing thence to ground at 69 through .the

. gear-shift lever 70 when the latter isin its neutral position. This provides for heating the thermostat element 64 and causing it to bend upward.

Part of the current at 61 passes through the conductor 72 to the switch post 73, passingl thence to the post- 74 and thence through timerT and conductor 75 to the spark coil 76 and thence to ground at 77 assuming switch lever 82 to be in circuit-closing position.- The current from the secondary ofcoil 76 passes through the distributor D and conductor 78 to the spark plug 79.

The switch S has a lever arm 80 closely overlying the free end of the thermostat bar 63. When the. bar 63 bends upward this lever 80 is also moved upward, and in doing so breaks the circuit between posts 65 and 66 and also between posts 73 and 74. The internal mechanism of the switch is not shown as such switches are old in themselves. The

type preferred in this instance is lwhat is known as a snap switch, according to which on moving a part (as the lever 80)l a predetermined distance a pivoted element is moved against spring pressure until its dead center is passed whereupon the spring pressure snaps the contact membersv out of -contact,V and then when a manually operable part (as the lever 80) is moved in the reverse direction, a similar action takes place snapping the contacts back so as to make the circuit.

Means for manually moving the lever 80' in the reverse direction are shown as the lever 82 shown as having an on and oii position.

This lever 82 may be appropriately on the dash board of the vehicle, as, indeed, may

be the entire device, this construction of eding y 6 admitting of installation as an exce small and compact unit.

The auxiliary switch 60 is shown in Fig. 6 as being bridged between the source of current and the spark coil as in Fig; 1.

Referring to Fi 7, which I shall call the preferred form, the parts which are in all respects like those in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 will be given the same reference characters, and .specie description of them may be omitted. The solenoid switch of Fig. 7 omits the switch element 13 and its contacts but is otherwise the same as in Fig. 1.

Beginning at t e battery in Fig. 7, the current passes through conductor 9.0 to contact member 17 passing thence through the contact-maker 14 to thecontact member 16, and thence through conductor 91 through timer T to the ignition coil 30. The switch at 92 may be the ordinary dash-board lock-and-key controlled igintion 'switch normally on the car. It would be closed at the time of starting, and the push button 23 (not shown in F ig. 7) would be operated to complete the circuit at the solenoid switch.

as shown, current passes through conductor v93 connected with conductor 91 and at 42 the 46*, at which time current passes through the conductor 48 to the solenoid 10. In Fig. 7 the coil of the solenoid is grounded at 95. f

As soon as the solenoid 10 is energized the iosY When the gear-shift lever-33 is in its neu- I tral position and switch 14-16-17 is closed,

circuit is. broken at 16 and 17, breaking the circuit to the ignition coil and also through the heating coil and through the solenoid.

According to this arrangment I accomplish y the same results as in Fig. 1 but with a single solenoid switch as distinguished from the double switch of Fig. 1. Themanually-controlled switch A96 corresponds to the switch 50 of Fig. 1. The contact at 46* may be adjusted stopped.

The thermostat shown is an electricallyoperated device having a delayed action or one having a part which moves effectively with a delayed action. This delayed-action part controls a switch one object of which is to break the ignition circuit and another is to break the control-device circuit or circuitsthe latter to save current and to provide other advantages. The switch so controlled is held in circuit-breaking position tillthe operator sets it to circuit-making position.

Tests with and without `the present invention installed in delivery trucks engaged in the same work show a saving by the device of about two hours of engine idling per day or six hundred such hours per year. This saves a. very considerable amount of fuel and lubricating oil and prevents unnecessary carbon deposits in the engine due partly to the faulty combustion of the low-speed idling operation. Of course the saving of engine wear and tear is also important. lVhere the same concern has a large number of trucks in operation, as in my practice, the saving of money value in a single month is quite notably great.

I contemplate as being included in the present invention all such changes, departures and modifications from What is thus specilically illustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an automobile havin an internal c\ombustion engine, the com ination of a `gear-shift lever having a neutral position, an

ignition circuit and a source of current therein, switch means-for making and breaking said circuit, an electrically-responsive device for operating said switch means, and means including a circuit controlled by moving the gear-shift lever into its neutral position for operating said electrically-responsive device to break the ignition-circuit.

2. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which means in the circuit controlled by the gear-shift lever operate with a delayed action to operate the electrically-responsive device after a predetermined interval of time.

3. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which means in the circuit controlled by the gear-shift lever operate with a delayed action to operate the electrically-responsivedevice, and there are means for varying the amount of delay in said action.

4. The combination of claim 1 hereofin which means in the circuit controlled by the gear-shift lever comprises a thermostat element and a circuit. for heating said element.

5. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which said electrically-responsive device is a magnet.-

6. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which said electricaly-responsive device is a solenoid having a plungermount'ed to fall gravitationally, with contact means carried by the plunger.

7. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which there are manually-operable means for rendering said switch means operable to makethe circuit in which said switch means are located.

8. The combination of claim 1 hereof in Which said switch means control two circuits, one in Whic-h the electrically-responsive device is located and the other one being the ignition circuit.

9. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which the electrically-responsive device circuit and the ignition circuit arc independent of each other. 10. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which the means in the circuit controlled by the gear-shift lever include a thermostat element of bi-metal constituting an electrical conductor and an electric heating coil around said bi-metal element.

11. In an engine control device of the character described, the combination of an electromagnet having a gravity-controlled part carrying a conductor, an open circuit containing said magnet, said gravity-controlled part falling when the magnet is dei energized and rising when the magnet is energized, a pairof contact members arranged to be bridged by said conductor on the descent of said part, a manually-controlled switch, a circuit containing said switch, and means in said last-mentioned switch circuit for closing the magnet circuit only after the circuit has been closed at said switch for a predetermined short period of time.

12. In an engine stopping device of the character described, the combination of a solenoid having a gravity-controlled plunger` contact-making means carried by the plunger, contact members arranged to be bridged by -said contact-making means when the plunger descends, means for holding the contactmaking means out of engagement with the contact members when the plunger is raised and the solenoid is deenergized, means under the control of the operator for releasing the" plunger to descend gravitationallv to make contact between the contact-making means and the Contact members, a circuit for the solenoid controlled by said contact-making means, a manually-controlled switch and an automatically-operating delayed-contact switch in the said circuit, and means for connecting a spark-current device in a circuit also controlled by said contact-making means.

13. In an engine stopping device of the character described, the combination of a magnet, a two-circuit make-and-break switch device controlled by said magnet, a plurality of circuits controlled by said switch device, said magnet and a manually-controlled switch and a delayed-action switch being in said circuits, the arrangement providing that when the circuit is closed at said manually-controlled switch said delayed-action switch is put into operation and closesthe circuit in which the magnet is located, means for holding said make-and-break switch device in open position, and manually controlled means for restoring it to closed position.

14. -In an engine stopping device of the character described, the combination of a magnet, a two-circuit make-and-break switch device controlled by said magnet, a manually controlled switch, two circuits controlled by said make-and-break switch device, a delayedaction switch being in one of said circuits and said magnet being in another thereof, said delayed-action switch including contacts in the magnet circuit and being adapted to make and break the magnet circuit, the arrangement providing that when the circuit is closed at said manually-controlled switch the delayed-action switch is put into operation and after a predetermined lapse of time closes the circuit to said magnet, the magnet thereupon operating to break both of the circuits at said make-and-break switch device.

15. In an automobile engine stopping device of the character described, the combination of a switch, a thermostat circuit controlled thereby, a thermostat device in said circuit, an ignition circuit, means under the control of the thermostat device for breaking the ignition circuit, and a gear shift lever for operating said switch for breaking the ignition circuit.

16. The combnation of claim 15 hereof in which said switch is in and is adapted to make and break both of said circuits.

17. In an automobile engine stopping device of the character described, the combination of a gear-shift lever having a neutral position, a circuit controlled by moving said lever into its neutral position, an electrical device in said circuit and having a part which moves effectively with a delayed action in response to current passing through said electrical device, an induction coil and a circuit including the primary thereof, a switch controlling both of said circuits, and means under the control of said delayed-action part for operating said switch.

18. In an automobile engine-stopping device, the combination of a gear-shift lever having a neutral position, a circuit controlled by moving said lever into its neutral position, an ignition circuit, a switch in said ignition circuit, and thermostat means controlled by moving the gear-shift lever to its neutral position for operating said switch.

19, In an automobile engine-stopping device, the combination of a transmission-control lever having a neutral position, electrical means operable to produce ignition sparks in the engine. and thermostat means including 

